The Automobile Association of America forecasts 31.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend, a 2.4% decrease from the 32.3 million people who traveled a year ago, according to an Aug. 24 news release.

“AAA is projecting a decrease in the number of Labor Day travelers as some Americans react to recent economic uncertainty and increasing air fares,” said Glen MacDonell, director, AAA Travel Services. “While automobile travel is expected to increase slightly, if recent declines in gasoline prices continue through Labor Day, we could see an increase in last-minute holiday weekend travel.”

The United States traded places from being a significant importer of ethanol during 2006 to 2008 to a major exporter starting in late 2010 and early 2011, according to the Energy Information Administration’s most recent “This Week in Petroleum” report, released Aug. 24.

“Looking forward, federal and state policies could drive a future in which the United States imports significant volumes of sugarcane ethanol from Brazil at the same time it continues to export corn-based ethanol to Brazil and other countries,” the EIA said.

The American Petroleum Institute criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed secondary standards for oxides of nitrogen and sulfur in an Aug. 23 conference call, and offered that critique in testimony at an EPA public hearing on the issue on Aug. 25.

API’s Director of Regulatory and Scientific Policy Howard Feldman addressed reporters during a press conference last week, noting EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s decision to reject the staff recommendation to establish secondary NOx/SOx standards was “sound.”